The disclosure relates generally to gas turbine repair, and more particularly, to a tool including expandable arcuate members to repair an out-of-round component such as a combustor body of a combustor for a gas turbine.
Gas turbines are used widely to generate power by combusting a fuel and directing a flow of combusted fuel through a turbine. In operation, compressed air and fuel are supplied to a combustor in which the fuel is combusted. The combusted fuel is then delivered to a turbine to generate power. Each combustor includes a fuel nozzle assembly having a fuel nozzle head end that is mounted in and mates with a combustor body, the latter of which includes a combustion chamber therein. The fuel nozzle assembly and the combustor body are typically round, i.e., annular or circular in cross-section. During the operation of the gas turbine, the combustor body experiences the most heat as it is exposed to the initial combustion of fuel/air Like all metals, when heated, the combustor body can experience stress relief. Current combustor bodies are made of a one-piece (unibody), thin-walled metal. During disassembly of the combustor, the combustor body will relax into a stress relieved state and may become out-of-round, i.e., not circular, not annular. Reassembling the combustor requires mating a round fuel nozzle head end in a round combustor body. An out-of-round combustor body, at best, prevents a rebuilt or new fuel nozzle head end from properly assembling, and at worst, can prevent assembly completely. Current practice to address this situation requires removal of the combustor body from the combustor, and forcibly reshaping the combustor body, e.g., using a circular mandrel. This re-rounding process is time consuming and expensive.